Dr. Tailor
Player: Pthalo (Acridone as main teg account) *'Name:' Dr. Zach F. Tailor (Born Isaac Israel Heinrich Nadelmann) *'Meaning: '''Isaac: 'He laughs' Nadelmann: possibly tailor, literally 'needleman' *'Nicknames: ' Fuzzy medic, beardo weirdo *'Gender: Male *'''Age: Born Apr 11, 1936 (Joined RED age 32) *'Nationality: '''English (Born in Germany) *'Build:' A bit stocky, solid enough to carry a teammate and a medipack around. *'Height: 5'9" *'''Weight: 180-185 lbs *'Team:' RED *'Job Class:' Medic *'Current Load-Out:' Kritzkreig, needlegun (non-opiate tranquilizers), hacksaw, two capped syringes (non-opiate tranquilizers), one capped syringe (epinephrine) *'Parents:' Ellen Tailor (Inge Nadelmann), Heinrich Nadelmann (likely deceased) *'Siblings:' None. *'Offspring:' None.. Theme Song: Anticipating Appearance & Personality Dark brown hair and hazel eyes, he looks to be a fairly average man of a smarmy disposition. He has a notable British accent, with a faint German tinge if you know how to listen (an artifact of his mother's attempts at language education). His outfit is generally similar to the medic standard, though he adopts a normal labcoat over the side buttoned ones most have. The pocket and sleeve have faint stitch holes from removed company badges, but it's not obvious. His gloves are orange rather than red and he did away with tall boots entirely, opting for plain workboots. The signature chinstrap beard and Ray Ban wayfarers he sports are by far the easiest things to remember. His demeanour is typically very unpreturbed, amused and sometimes snide depending on company and motives, but he can shift efficiently to stern and professional or sassily angry when needed. Or if he just plain feels like it. He comes off as a bit of an ass sometimes, mostly a result of not being much intimidated by others and taking arguments as a challenge. Though he does have his problems (some of which get drowned out in private some nights with good bourbon) for the most part they don't make it into daylight save for a semi-frequent lack of social aptitude. If you're being an idiot, chances are he won't tell you directly, and become exceedingly difficult instead. He does enjoy being humourously stubborn while somebody only makes themself madder over it. This does not work when he encounters somebody as ornery, though the insults thrown usually wind up fun to watch from a safe distance. History Tailor's family was identified as Jewish - following his arrival, they attempted to flee Germany. Heinrich became separated during this, and it was never known where he ultimately got sent. His mother Inge, in a streak of insufferably unbreakable stubbornness that seems to be a hallmark of the family, continued with anger as fuel to get herself and Isaac to England safely. Albeit with very little to make any sort of life for themselves in London. Isaac is particularly neutral concerning his father as he was too young to remember any of this. He never became a practicing Jew and only knows the bare minimum of Yiddish at her insistence in addition to fluent German (she insisted a lot of things. It was part of getting by). The London bombings more or less defined his early life, him and Inge taking refuge in the underground for most of it while many were able to evacuate. He was four at the time, and nine when the war finally ended. They eked out a living moving to an unmarred town near London, working to sort through salvageable goods left from all the damage years prior and then any odd jobs the two of them could take. It was hard, but ends were met enough that life became relatively normal. Tailor was initially interested in music. Still is. But being a composer was hardly going to pull what was left of his family out of the ground, so in spite of his reclusive songwriting interests, he abandoned the music lessons he'd enjoyed for several years and ultimately chose a medical career path (having his mother insisting on it until his ears bled helped). His experience working for the local pharmacist was not what he would call medically useful, but he'd made up his mind to get out of the country for a proper education so the fact him and his mother agreed on anything was not something he was about to waste. Eventually adopting the name Zach(ary) Tailor, he moved to Baltimore to become a doctor, intending to send money home. Maybe it wasn't the profession he would have chosen in other circumstances, but if he was never going to hear the end of it then he was bloody well choosing where. After completing his degree and internship through John Hopkins, he wound up transferring to Boston where he worked as a trauma surgeon. With the post-war communist scares, his background was looked into. His German birth name cropped up, as well as the detail concerning his illegal (apparently?? Really now.) immigration to Britain. Having never become a legal British citizen, it was argued, he was technically an illegal alien in America. As far as he can tell the government or hospital was bullshitting this for their own gain. They needed to make an example of someone. (Way to shaft the weird new guy. As usual, he was in the wrong place at the worst time.) He was suspended from work and threatened with deportation to Europe (he still remains doubtful of the vailidity of this threat, but he was cornered) on grounds of possibly being a spy and medical saboteur... until the independent firm Aperture Science Innovators intervened and 'offered' him a different line of work. Any record of him in the states were conveniently overlooked and doctor Tailor was essentially swept under the country's carpet. That was back in 1964. The Basics *'Strengths' :: - Experience as a surgeon. He can be of use without a medigun. :: - Can lie, has lied, and you really shouldn't challenge him to a game of poker. :: - Not terrifying, terrified, or perpetually in a foul mood. (That's like being sane, right? He jests.) :: - Will never turn down someone who needs help regardless of the hour. :: - Bit of a sneak. In the analytical spy sense of the word. :: - Ridiculously patient and levelheaded when he chooses to be. :: - Farsighted. Excellent distance vision. :: - Incredibly protective of those he cares for. Sometimes whether it's wanted or not. :: - Doesn't give up in a fight once he's set on it. He's extremely difficult to get rid of grudge-wise. *'Weaknesses' :: - Light smoker. It hasn't affected his health notably so far, but it's still a distraction. :: - Bit of a sneak. In the nosy distrusting paranoia sense of the word. :: - Ridiculously flippant and bullheaded when he chooses to be. :: - Doesn't kill unless he has to. Will sometimes go against his moral conduct if it spares someone else having to live with their actions. He's already screwed on that front, why break someone new? :: - Will offer medical treatment to nonthreatening enemies as healing is still his primary job. :: - Has a very closeted love-hate relationship with alcohol. He works to keep a leash on it. :: - Farsighted. Incredibly poor close-range vision. Depends on his glasses to work. :: - Will throw himself into into a no-win fight. It's unclear why he does this to himself occasionally as it's not entirely selflessness. *'Likes' :: - Not having the Government trying to deport him. Har har, don't we all? :: - Rain. Something about the white noise clears his head. He often misses it at these arid bases. :: - Songwriting/composing. He wishes he had a piano, or the equipment to play with electronically synthesized sound, but with little more than a harmonica and a 3' plumbing pipe, he's SOL for playing anything he comes up with. Startling folks with the didge is always good for a laugh though. :: - Knowing what's going on. It's out of valid concern but it can start to look snoopish. :: - Privacy. He's all smiles and full of talk but in truth, he's introverted. He can be frustrating to find when he wants to be left alone. He's not above being weird and annoying to get himself some space either. :: - Anything fried. He's a surgeon, not a dietician. :: - Marijuana, rarely. He's interested in the analgesic properties and medical applications. :: - Debating things. Though he doesn't always distinguish between frivolously sassy banter, intellectual discussions, and pointless arguments. *'Dislikes' :: - His last place of employment. Particularly the CEO and his bitch of an ...assistant (suuure). :: - Having to cook. Just. Just don't ask him to, he's terrible at it anyway. :: - The social aspect of being a patient's doctor - he just feels inept. He'd rather focus on the technical parts, of which he feels much more suited toward. :: - Respawn and the medigun. They invalidate everything he's trained to be good at and teach you out of your most basic of instincts to not get killed. Tailor uses the medigun but refuses to be treated by one unless it is the only way to avoid respawn. Respawn is worse. :: - Teleporters. Just. Just no. He doesn't trust you engineers to know how to violate the laws of physics safely. Don't ask him to expand on that. :: - Finds socializing with groups exhausting. Don't be surprised if he's someone else entirely (and probably more true to himself) one-on-one. One person at a time suits him better. :: - Religion. It is a source of arbitrary hurdles and adherences to dead traditions, and he has better things to believe in than that which cannot or does not, help him. :: - Being TOO SERIOUS all the time. It's like swearing, it loses it's potency if you don't save it for the good moments. :: - Cats. He's pretty allergic. They're also bloody stupid. Relationships *'RED' :: O'hannigan: Knows him personally. They were coworkers at another construction company that specialized in remote operations like oil rig construction. (Tailor was part of the on-site medical team. He fully admits he took up contract work like this after the communist accusation robbed him of hospital job. He hadn't anticipated on RED being anything other than it's company name implied.) Harvey was an engineer with them for quite some time, but Tailor was under the impression he had gone home once his contract had been completed. Tailor was disturbed to find his old colleague here lost, arguably brain damaged, and looking like prosthetist's nightmare. He has vowed to look out for Harvey in the midst of... whatever this is. He doesn't force Harvey to talk about it. (Those who are/were closer friends of Harvey, like Lucas, Bonnie, and Gladys, know something bigger happened and that Zach is glossing over a lot of details. Ardette and Taliba both know Aperture Science is involved, but to hopefully a limited extent. Harvey seems to have a habit of ruining lies Zach sets in place for the better.) : Lucas Conroy: In a state of mutual trust/mistrust. He's not willing to discuss what happened at Aperture but if Lucas is a good friend of Harvey's, he's already halfway in on the secrets. And probably as tight-lipped about it. He wished the man luck on his journey home, as one bastard to another, sensing that Lucas too had a lot of things he wasn't honest about. : Julian: Tailor looks out for the often-nervous medic when combat arises, hoping the poor guy will gain a little confidence. Their tendency to bump into BLU medics offduty isn't helping so far. He does ''know what he's doing as a doctor, and people find him easier to talk to. (Or, more like possible). The base needs that. It's also refreshing to have a coworker who's more likely to knit you a scarf than spit expletives you. Even if he does find Julian's fixation with disinfecting and organizing things juuust a ''bit ''invasive, he's a good guy to have around. : '''Amelie': He first met her alongside Harvey after their terrible trip to Vegas. He kept an eye out from afar since she was seemingly a dangermagnet just like Harvey himself. Tailor had to admit he found it hard to believe she ever got hired as a spy, but he didn't anticipate a respawn failure being what ultimately removed her from the team. He hasn't asked how Harvey's been coping with that, not openly. He knows his friend loved her, and she loved him too - even though they had broken up during the train ride to Dustbowl it was evident they'd wished it could have worked out. he doesn't want to go picking at any emotional scabs after the fact. : Ardette: She's professional, intelligent, headstrong, concise, and doesn't let her femininity stop her from outperfoming most everyone on base at their jobs. If anything it just makes her even better at it. She's a threat - in that she can nodoubt see right through his bullshit. She's his best bet at keeping ahead of anyone trying to track down Harvey or himself. She probably shares more in common with him than he'd like to admit, and yet for a long time he just wanted to drive her up the wall every time she affixed that icy little scowl his way. Not out of hate, mind you, he just couldn't resist. He reacted poorly when she picked up meds from the medbay a little too stealthily (He'd gotten far too accustomed to past coworkers nicking everything narcotic that wasn't bolted down and or on fire), which triggered a discussion concerning access to medical files, and somehow that ''set off a whole chain reaction of stupid moving-shit-around one-upsmanship, ...whiiiich came to an abrupt stop with the theft of a doorknob, accidentally locking Ardette in her office. He's still not entirely sure if alienating any hopes at good relations with her was intentional for safety's sake, or the byproduct of his own social ineptitude and maybe a poorly timed hangover. Maybe he just likes the humiliation, who knows. He's made several quiet efforts to show he's not always an ass, and it's gotten him as far as being tolerated. He's killed off most of any admirations beyond respect nowadays, with the discovery of her much more important friendship with Dr. Eberhardt. He will settle for protecting her in combat should she need it. : '''Gladys': She's kind, sensitive and meek around him. And cuddly. He's aware. He ignored her little flirting cues long enough to get a studious look at her personality, but he eventually let her close in spite of any number of things. She's an adult, and if she could stand to tolerate his semireclusive quirkiness for that long without much reciprocity then maybe it was time he stopped acting like he didn't care. It wasn't until some time later he learned about Andy; he's keeping his mouth shut under the belief that he's the cheat in this equation. He's an arse, but not a housebreaker. He'll watch over her protectively regardless - she reminds him a little of Harvey, a little of someone else; and as sad as those facts are to him he is happy to have a second chance to keep someone from falling through the cracks. They've been spending a sizable amount of time in each other's company recently. She's getting good at telling when he's upset even if he isn't openly showcasing it; this both irritates him and makes him feel a bit better about it. : Dr. Eberhardt: His initial impressions were 'Okay, he's giant, German, has a coin in his head and is somehow still licensed to sew people back together.' Which translated to a lot of passive medbay observation rather than the more idiotic move of poking the bear just to prove those intimidating bully tricks weren't going to work. Tailor is thankful for that decision. While Eberhardt seems to carry a very flimsy concept of ethical morality when it comes to fighting - which Tailor does not agree with - he has to recall this man is fifteen years his senior and actually served in the last world war. For the Nazis. The rules were different, not always followed by choice, and are not easily forgotten. He should know, having grown up a war refugee (a detail which he does not intend to willingly share. It's irrelevant). Tailor has seen him command a medical emergency with swift tact and the bare minimum of medigun reliance: he has found an unspoken professional respect for the doctor's dedication to his work. : Surveillance: What. A. Complete. Writeoff. Also a Sociopath. Probably paranoid to boot. He hates her unforgiveably after an incident where Harvey got trapped in a basement storeroom for 'tresspassing'. He wonders if there's any way to make her ''life worse instead of the other way around. Or he did, until she up and left without any notice. Rumour was she left with a sum of cash in her possession. Either way he has a new announcer to worry about now. : '''Buddy': Who the hell does this new guy think he is?? Saxton Bloody Hale? The last thing this place needs is neutral sentry guns picking off anybody idling too long during missions. It smacks entirely too much of 'test subject motivation'. The only reason Tailor hasn't quit this hellhole yet is... he has reasons okay. :*'BLU' :: Andy: He's a goof and a prankster who never runs out of energy it seems. Or a love of pouncing him and his colleagues. He's a complete riot to scrap with, provided the fighting stays nonlethal. :: He's also a friend of Harvey's, so Tailor doesn't mistrust him on principal, but he's wiser than to overlook a weird troublemaker when he sees one. Takes one to know one, after all. He's personally convinced that under different circumstances, they'd probably be as good as brothers for the amount of notorious crap they'd probably start. :: Taliba: Ohhhh... Her. If he were a normal sort of man he would probably be afraid of her. It's unclear whether he treats this vendetta as a game, challenge, opportunity, or personal score he's settling, but the two exchange as much venomously friendly banter as they do blows... when they aren't both sneaking behind the other's back stealing eachother's blackmail. Or... but nobody knew about that. That never happened. It's an odd set of commonalities they share - she reminds him of how many times the line between 'killer' and 'surgeon' has been forced apart on him. Being told he would make a good spy is rubbing it in his face, and he's going to figure out who the hell she is if it kills him several times over. Category:Red Category:Characters Category:Dr. Tailor